IMPORTANT: Update Regarding Travel Restriction Proclamation

Tue, 26 Sep 2017 15:40:00 -0400
chat, diversity, immigration, inclusion, international, iran, libya, northkorea, proclamation, restriction, somalia, sudan, syria, travel, venezuela, yemen

Dear Members of the UMBC Community,

We are writing to provide information on President Trump’s proclamation, announcedSunday, imposing restrictions on citizens of eight nations seeking entry to the United States. The countries included in the updated travel ban are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen (all included in the previous version of the ban), as well as Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela. Sudan has been removed from the list.

Each country on the list has its own specific restrictions. For example, Iranians can now apply for student and exchange visitor visas, but not most other visa categories, while Venezuelans and their families are restricted from obtaining a tourist visa if they work for certain branches of the Venezuelan government. All changes will take effect on October 18, except for the lifting of restrictions on Sudan, which took effect immediately.

For further detailed information on current restrictions and how they might impact members of the UMBC community, please see the International Education Services (IES) website. Additional guidance is available from NAFSA: Association of International Educators and American Immigration Lawyers Association.

As we have said before, and will continue to affirm, one of American higher education’s great strengths is its ability to bring together the best minds from around the world to create scholarly communities that benefit from diversity of experience, background, and thought. UMBC is home to students, faculty, and staff from more than 100 countries. We remain steadfast in our support for members of our Retriever family from around the globe who are pursuing transformative education and purposeful careers.

We will continue to update the campus about our work to advance UMBC’s culture of inclusive excellence through future messages, as needed, and through the UMBC Diversity and Inclusion website.

President Freeman Hrabowski and Provost Philip Rous